Bim for Sustainable Design Oct08

7/27/2019 Bim for Sustainable Design Oct08

1/13

AUTODESK REVIT WHITE PAPER

Building Information

Modeling forSustainable Design

Building Information Modeling facilitates complex proces-

ses and analyses that were previously too laborious or

expensive to perform. This white paper details how Revit

Architecture, Autodesks purpose-built BIM solution,

supports key aspects of sustainable design and greencertification.

CONTENTS

Green Architecture ......... 1

Standards for Sustain-able Design ..... ............... 2

Green Report Card ......... 2

What is BIM? .................. 3

BIM and Sustainable

Design .................. .......... 3Design Optimization ....... 4

Design OptimizationCase Study:Skyscraper Digital .......... 4

Visualization ............... .... 5

Visualization Case Study:Little Diversified Archi-tectural Consulting .......... 6

Daylighting ...................... 7

Daylighting Case Study:Little Diversified Archi-tectural Consulting .......... 7

Energy Analysis .............. 8Energy Analysis CaseStudy: ArchitecturalResources ................. ..... 8

Computation of MaterialQuantities and LEEDDocumentation ........... .... 9

Specification Managemen10

Reducing Waste andInefficiency ......... .......... 11

Summary ................... ... 12

Over the last 20 years information technology has revolutionized the design and produc-

tion of movies and music, airplanes and toasters, machinery and holidays. The design of

manufactured items in particular has benefited from design software that enables the en-

gineering and analysis of every conceivable characteristic of an assembly, from physical

and operating characteristics to thermal behavior and fabrication requirements. The adop-

tion of digital prototypes in manufacturing has made products more efficient and suitable

to their purpose, less costly, and more stylish.

Architects and engineers are now applying similar tools to building design. The mostsophisticated of these tools deliver continuous and immediate feedback on a far greater

range of characteristics than conventional design tools. Material quantities and properties,

energy performance, lighting quality, site disturbance, and what-if comparisons between

new construction and renovation are some types of information that are easily available

from these tools. This approach to building design is so different from using conventional

CAD software that the industry has a new name for it: building information modeling (BIM).

As building growth intersects with environmental concerns and the rising cost of energy,

a growing field within building design has emerged - sustainable design, the practice of

designing, constructing, and operating buildings in a manner that minimizes their environ-

mental impact.

Green Architecture

For most people, the environmental impact of buildings is startling. In the United States,

commercial and residential buildings consume close to 40% of our total energy, 70% of

our electricity, 40% of our raw materials and 12% of fresh water supplies. They account

for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and generate 136 million tons of construction and

demolition waste (approx. 2.8 lbs/person/day).1

1 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Eff iciency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN).Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development, 2003


2/13

2

Sustainable design seeks to mitigate this negative impact through the use of environmen-

tally sensitive design and construction practices. The goal of sustainable design is to pro-

duce green buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places

to live and work.2

The concept of sustainable design is not new. For instance, NYCs Rockefeller Center,

built during the 1930s, used roof top gardens and operable windows - design aspects that

we now term as green. But the energy crisis of the 70s coupled with an emerging envi-ronmental movement launched the modern era of eco-friendly design.

Standards for Sustainable Design

Conservation efforts and sustainable design gained momentum during the 80s and 90s,

as focus shifted from point strategies like solar heating to a holistic approach to green

design. A national sustainable design organization, the U.S. Green Building Council

(USGBC), was created in 1993 - formed by a group of leaders from the North American

building industry.

Today they are the guiding force behind the voluntary LEED (Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, widely accepted as the national

standard for sustainable design. The LEED rating system awards points for satisfying

specified green building criteria in five major categories: site design, indoor environmental

quality, and efficient use of energy, materials, and water.

In the United States, the LEED standard has been adopted nationwide by federal agen-

cies, state and local governments, and interested private companies as the guideline for

sustainable building. A high LEED rating (out of a 69 point theoretical maximum) recog-

nizes the excellence of a green building design and qualifies the project for an array of

financial and regulatory incentives from state and local governments, and even from pri-

vately funded organizations promoting sustainable design.

Internationally, similar standards are emerging. Canada has joined the LEED program,

and several European countries have their own green assessment programs, including

U.K.s BREEAM (Building Research Environment Assessment Method), Hollands Eco-

Quantum, and the Swiss ecoinvent life cycle analysis methodology.

Green Report Card

Although the majority of todays building projects are still designed and built with little

regard for environmental impact, the recent surge of interest in sustainable design is

2 U.S. Green Building Council, Mission Statement, 2004

Figure 1

LEED certification isbeing pursued by avariety of buildingowners.

(Source: USGBC,Sept 2004)

Non-Profit Corporations

19%

Private Sector Corporations

25%

Local Governments24%

State Governments

13%

Federal Government

10%Other

9%


3/13

Building Information Modeling for Sustainable Design

3

undeniable. The USGBC reports that the number of LEED-certified projects doubled

between 2002 and 2003. And in a 2003 survey of the building industry3, nearly half the

firms surveyed had initiated at least one project based on green-building principles.

But what is the cost of sustainable design? Depending on the building project and the

green measures selected, the net change in construction and operating costs can range

from a savings to unaffordably expensive. Long-range lifecycle assessments may paint a

rosier picture but in todays tight economy, building developers and owners are especiallysensitive to the value that their design and construction dollar buys.

Complicating the cost analysis, the design process can require more resources as many

of the engineering and analysis tasks that used to be conducted later in the design pro-

cess are shifted towards earlier phases to assist in evaluating sustainable design options,

and others that may never have been done at all (such as daylighting studies) become

routine.

BIM, supported by appropriate technology, has the potential to reduce the cost of sustain-

able design by making the information required for sustainable design, analysis and cer-

tification routinely available simply as a byproduct of the standard design process.

What is BIM?

Building information modeling is an innovative approach to building design, construction,

and management that was introduced by Autodesk in 2002. It is characterized by the

continuous and immediate availability of project design scope, schedule, and cost infor-

mation that is highquality, consistent and reliable.

While many technologies can be used to support BIM, Revit Architecture is purpose-built

for BIM and delivers its highest benefits because it is based on parametric building

modeling technology, which uses a relational database together with a behavioral model

to capture and present building information dynamically.

Just as a spreadsheet is a tool for thinking about numbers, software built on parametric

building modeling technology is a tool for thinking about buildings. And just as a change

made anywhere in a spreadsheet is expected to update everywhere with no further inter-

vention from the user, so a change made anywhere in a parametric building modeler is

immediately reflected everywhere.

The Revit buildinginformation model haschanged the way in-dustry professionalsthink about how tech-nology can be appliedto building design,construction andmanagement.

BIM and Sustainable Design

In current practice, many digital building models do not contain sufficient information for

building performance analysis and evaluation the building blocks of sustainable build-ing design. As with traditional physical models and drawings, evaluating building perform-

ance based on the graphic representations of conventional CAD or object-CAD solutions

requires a great deal of human intervention and interpretation, which renders the analyses

too costly and/or time-consuming.The Revit parametric building modeler represents the building as an integrated database

of coordinated information. Beyond graphically depicting the design, much of the data

needed for supporting sustainable design is captured naturally as design on the project

proceeds. In addition, the integration of Revit Architecture with commercially available

analysis tools greatly simplifies the often cumbersome and difficult analyses. By linking the

building model directly to the analysis software, Revit Architecture gives architects easy

3Building Design & Construction White Paper Survey, 09/03, Source: Reed Research Group


4/13


4

access to tools that provide immediate feedback on design alternatives early on in the

design process.

As such, Revit Architecture is particularly well suited to address the kinds of problems

sustainable design professionals encounter every day and may eventually open up

new building characteristics such as embodied energy and complete lifecycle costing for

evaluation and optimization. For projects pursuing LEED certification, many LEED

credits require that drawings be submitted to support the qualification for the credit.Although most of these drawings can be prepared using conventional CAD software,

Revit Architecure produces these drawings more efficiently as part of the building

information model and has the added advantage of parametric change technology, which

coordinates changes and maintains consistency at all times. The user does not have to

intervene to update drawings or links. A LEED requirement documented in the Revit

building information model is far less likely to fall out of synch or be overlooked (and

inadvertently violated) during project design than a requirement documented in a

conventional CAD or object-CAD-based application.

The Revit model carries a wealth of information necessary for many other aspects of

sustainable design and/or LEED certification. For instance, schedules of building compo-

nents can be obtained directly from the model to determine percentages of materialreuse, recycling, or salvage. Various design options for sustainability can be studied and

tracked in the model. Advanced visualization techniques can convince an otherwise

skeptical client that green design performs well and looks good.

Today, RevitArchitecture customersare using buildinginformation modelingfor a variety ofsustainable designactivities includingdesign optimization,visualization, day-lighting, energy anal-ysis, quantity takeoffs,and specificationsmanagement toname a few.

Design Optimization

During any design process, the architectural team needs to track various design options

until enough information is available to decide between them. For example, an open office

scheme providing daylighting and views may need to be tracked with a more partitioned

layout for programmatic and environmental comfort purposes well into the documentation

phase. These two options could then be used for detailed daylighting design analysis.

Building information modeling with Autodesk Revit Building supports design optimization

by letting architects develop and study multiple design alternatives (green or not)

simultaneously within a single model. Design options can be toggled on and off in the

model for visualization, quantification, and analysis as needed, and can be maintained for

as long as required (which sometimes can be quite late in the design process) and then

incorporated, discarded or archived as key design decisions are made.

In this fashion, what-if analyses examining different sustainable design options for varying

levels of LEED certification (or alternate ways of achieving the same level of certification)

can be easily examined and thoroughly documented within the Revit building information

model - keeping good ideas on the table as long as required for evaluation.

Design Optimization Case Study: Skyscraper DigitalSkyscraper Digital began in 1992 as the digital imaging studio for its parent company,

Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, but quickly evolved to serve a wider audience

seeking to use 3D technology and services as an effective business tool. Today

Skyscraper's unique digital tools have applications spanning all industries including

institutional, educational, corporate, government, resort and entertainment.

One of Skyscraper's recent projects is the rehab of a 14 story headquarter building of a

large financial services company located in Charlotte, North Carolina. To support daylight-

ing analysis, Skyscraper developed a host of design options for the project, all of which

were maintained in the building information model.

Skyscraper Digital(www.skyscraper-digital.com) has beenusing the Revit buildinginformation modelingsolution for four years,and has recently madeextensive use of its de-sign options feature fora building rehabproject.


5/13


5

By keeping these various design options active as the design matured, Skyscraper was

able to study several daylighting scenarios during the schematic, design development and

construction document phases. Having multiple design options available within the same

file allowed them to quickly go back and forth between the options as the design progress-

ed. For example, they were able to toggle between very early, simple massing forms to

more refined and detailed solutions as shown in Figure 2 below.

Visualization

During the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, master builders designed and built their

projects using on-site, life-size models (i.e., the actual built project). As the centuries

passed, those processes that were used to create St. Peters Basilica and Notre Dame

Cathedral evolved into what we now think of as the design/construction process, where

architects separated from the construction process uses two-dimensional drawings to

visualize and document their design.

BIM allows architects and engineers to become digital master builders who are able to

see the building, its materials, its structure, and its performance in real time as its being

designed, and (more importantly) before the design is converted to very expensive bricks

and mortar or more likely metal studs and gypsum board. At the same time, this model

can very efficiently provide a fully coordinated set of conventional documents that is

accurate and reliable.

This is the power of building information modeling with Revit Architecture, and is critical to

many aspects of successful sustainable design. The building information model can be

used in conjunction with software tools for energy analysis, lighting studies, and so forth,

to quantify the green effects, while 3D visualization and walk-throughs allow the design

team and the client to see the greener design.

SSome design profes-sionals are seeing BIMas an opportunity forincreasing their influ-ence over the entirebuilding project perhaps bringing thearchitect closer to themaster builderRenaissance ideal.

Figure 2

Skyscraper Digitalmade extensive use

of design optimizationfor this building rehabproject.

Taking advantage ofthe centralized data-base, Skyscrapersteam was confidentthat they werentrepeating or duplicat-ing themselves any-where and were ableto make informeddecisions throughoutthe design process.


6/13


6

Visualization Case Study: Little Diversified Architectural Consulting

Little Diversified Architectural Consulting (http://www.littleonline.com) recently used the

visualization capability of Revit Architecture to communicate the merits of a reduced

exterior light pollution design to their client, the University of North Carolina.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, with offices across the United States, Little

has expanded its core design services to include sustainable design analyses for work-

place, retail, and community clients. They were commissioned by UNC to renovate a1960s dormitory into an updated, high-end residence hall improving interior comfort and

energy use as well as updating and improving the exterior appearance. One green aspect

of the project was how to minimize light pollution.

Lighting the night sky with extraneous light is both unnecessary and expensive, but its

done routinely in North America and elsewhere partly through carelessness and partly

due to lack of time and tools to deal with it effectively. Also, light pollution to one owner

may be security lighting to another.

For the rehabilitation project, UNC required the use of the LEED rating system as a guide-

line for this project, which is in the State of North Carolina's pilot program for greening

state buildings.

Little's team used Revit Architecture for the project, and were able to visually analyze the

effects of custom lighting fixtures on the facade, designed to reduce light pollution. They

also used Revit Architecture to develop an effective light-shelf design to maximize

bounced daylight to the windows on the walkway sides of the 10-story dorm. By using

their standard design environment for these specialized functions, the decision-process

became more efficient and informed. And by being able to literally see the building in

advance and analyze lighting levels, UNC was able to rapidly approve this aspect of the

project design.

Figure 3

Little Diversified Archi-tectural Consulting usedhigh-quality images fromRevit to communicatethe merits of this re-duced exterior lightpollution design.


7/13


7

Figure 4

Little used models fromRevit to produce highquality realistic render-ings for daylightinganalysis (left) and nu-merically quantifiablepseudo-color intensityradiosity models (right).

Daylighting

Daylighting, the practice of using natural light to illuminate buildings, not only makes peo-

ple more comfortable and productive, it can sharply reduce the electrical lighting load and

subsequent heat and energy loads. A sustainable, high-performance design can derive

much of its ultimate success from effective relationship to, and integration of, the suns

energy into the design of the building envelope and fenestration.

However, effective daylighting is rarely performed due to the complexity of formulas re-

quired to accurately analyze daylighting characteristics. There have been computer soft-

ware programs available for years that can accomplish these tasks, but the cost to use

them was prohibitive because of the cumbersome and difficult methods for entering the

building design information.

Revit Architecture changes this by allowing the design team (rather than expensive

lighting labs) to undertake the modeling, measurement, and documentation of complex

interior daylighting designs within their standard design environment.

Daylighting Case Study: Little Diversified Architectural Consulting

Turning again to an example from Little, they relied on Revit Architecture for an innovative

green design of the new Living/Learning Center at the University of South Carolina in

Columbia. The complex offers housing for 500 students, assembly space, classrooms,

and offices. Incorporating state-of-the-art sustainable design strategies, the Learning

Center is partially underground and features a turf roof that helps to absorb rainwater and

becomes an integral part of the existing campus landscape.

In the past, Little sent projects like this out to a laboratory for daylighting analyses, but with

Revit Architecture they can now perform them in-house. During planning, the firm

combined Revit Architecture and AutoCAD software to select the best site and

orientation to maximize solar access for balanced natural lighting and energy

conservation. During design, Little used Revit Architecture for interior daylighting design

and exterior bouncelight between buildings. And Revit Architecture was essential to Little

for calculating points for the building's targeted gold LEED rating.

Construction of the Living/Learning center has recently been completed, and the project

delivers the promises made to USC for a high-quality sustainable structure that uses 45%


8/13


8

less energy and 20% less water than typical construction, that has virtually no water run-

off, and that costs no more to build than a conventional building.

Energy Analysis

According to the Department of Energy, there are more than 76 million residential build-

ings and nearly 5 million commercial buildings in the United States today. The beginningof this white paper contained a remarkable figure relating to those structures that bears

repeating: buildings consume close to 40 percent of all energy used in the United States.

Contrast that figure with the amount of energy consumed by SUVs, mini-vans and light-

duty trucks on the road (approximately 7 percent) and one can see that scolding SUV

owners for depleting our oil supplies might be considered a tempest in a teapot.4

Sophisticated energy analysis is critical to a building design strategy for reduced energy

consumption. And like software for daylighting analysis, energy analysis programs have

been available for years, but rarely used by the design firm. Many firms outsource energy

analysis (due to time and cost), and as a result building energy performance information is

available only at fixed points in the project, usually later than needed for supporting the best

decision-making about the project.

But now, Revit Architecture provides robust design information with the necessary level of

detail and reliability to complete these analyses earlier in the design cycle, and makes

possible routine analysis done directly by designers for their own baseline energy analysis.

Revit Architecture is linked directly to Autodesk Green Building Studio (GBS) service, an

industry leading building energy analysis tool. The GBS service creates a geometrically

correct thermal model of the building, applies local building code assumptions, creates a

DOE-2 input, runs the analysis, and returns summary results to the designers browser.

Reducing our de-pendence on fossilfuel is not a battlecry commonly asso-ciated with archi-tects. But in fact, its

one area that sus-tainable design (andtherefore architects)can directly impact.

In this fashion, energy analysis can be performed throughout the design process. In early

design phases, massing studies can be used with resulting energy analyses to make de-

cisions about how the building is placed on the site. As the design progresses, variousdaylighting options can be evaluated for energy savings. When appropriate, the DOE-2

model input files can be used with engineering analysis systems such as eQUEST,

EnergyPlusTM, or Trane Trace 700 for detailed analysis. This automated input of geo-

metric coordinates can save hundreds of hours of manual labor.

Energy Analysis Case Study: Architectural Resources

Architectural Resources (www.archres.com) is a 27 person architecture, interiors and

planning firm with offices in Buffalo and New York City. Since 1991 Architectural

Resources (A|r) has provided high quality, personal design and project management ser-

vices to owners and individuals throughout New York State.

They are using Revit Architecture on a new project for the State of New York - the Queens

Psychiatric Center Community Services, a 45,000 square foot educational/health facilitydesigned to meet the requirements of a LEED building without increasing the original

budget. Part of the strategy to reach this goal is to reduce the total energy consumption in

dollars (Energy Cost Budget or ECB) by twenty percent.

A|rs traditional method of estimating a buildings performance is to work with consulting

engineers who redraw the entire building in engineering software, then analyze the build-

ing at a base case (code minimum) and then at higher efficiency levels to produce a per-

4Mazria, E. It's the Architecture, Stupid! Solar Today, May/June 2003


9/13


9

Figure 5

Architectural Resourcesuse Revit for a variety ofenergy analyses, suchas this solar/sun study.

cent difference in savings. This

process usually takes weeks to

complete, often with additional

services charged to the client.

With the use of Revit

Architecture and GBS, A|r

designers easily export themodel of the building in a

format compatible with major

engineering software

applications, and run a base

case study within ten minutes.

This process can be repeated

as desired to compare prior re-

sults to reconfigurations of

spaces and features. The

consulting engineers can then

use the base case information,

edit the HVAC system, modify building R-values and produce an ECB. The total time

takes less than a week with no additional services required and gives A|r the confidence

that the spaces being analyzed by the engineers match their design intent.

Computation of Material Quantities and LEED Documentation

Repeating another statistic from the beginning of this white paper, buildings account for

60% of the raw materials used in the United States. So the selection of building materials

is crucial to sustainable design.

Specification and procurement

of green building materials rely

on the accurate computation of

a projects material quantities.

This is one of the underlying

strengths of Revit technology

its ability to provide information

effortlessly.

Other technologies scatter

building information across

multiple CAD files or require

user intervention to make sure

that all of the building

information is internally

consistent. This sets the stagefor unreliable information

retrieval. In Revit Architecture,

every drawing, every view,

every schedule is a direct

presentation of information

from the same underlying

database. Schedules and

quantities of building

components that are live views

Figure 6

Skyscraper Digital used

Revit to create thesephased images of ahospital project inCharlotte, NorthCarolina.


10/13


10

of the building database, and therefore always accurate, deliver an enormous benefit for

any design.

For sustainable design there are many LEED points that require calculating areas, vol-

umes, or costs of building assemblies or materials for credit. The submittal requirements

for these credits involve listing each material or product used to meet various credits

demonstrating that the project incorporates the required percentage of reused, recycled,

locally sourced, rapidly renewable, or certified wood products based on percentage ofcost.

Quantification of a project for cost estimating is especially easy using Revit Architecture,

as is associating quantities with properties such as reused material.

The calculations for these LEED credits can be embedded in a schedule directly in the

building information model and will be maintained dynamically as the project moves for-

ward through design, including any design options that are being considered. In addition,

quantities can be exported to third party databases or cost-estimating packages via

ODBC.

The capability of Revit Architecture to track information about the development of a project

in time (sometimes referred to as 4D analysis, the fourth dimension being time) allowsexisting conditions to be stored directly in the building information model. This phasing

information is the foundation for calculations that assess the extent of demolition and new

construction on a project, critical for green design and LEED certification.

As portions of the project to be demolished are identified, calculation of quantities based

on volume (for structural reuse) and area (for shell and interior reuse) can be calculated.

Demolition and renovation drawings can be produced using time-specific views of the

building information model, reflecting the evolution of the project from phase to phase.

Specification Management

The environmental impact of extracting, processing, and transporting building materials

makes their careful selection an important aspect of sustainable design. But communi-

cating the materials needed for a green project is often a stumbling block for sustainable

design projects because material specifications are usually created in isolation from the

design model, so their development and upkeep are time-consuming and error-prone.

To remedy this disconnect, Revit Architecture is integrated with a popular specification

management software solution called e-SPECS from InterSpec, a provider of

construction document management solutions and services. Using e-SPECS For Revit,

the development, editing, and (most importantly) coordination of the project specifications

can be highly automated. e-SPECS is linked directly to the Revit building information

model via ODBC, a robust and well-established standard for database interoperability. As

a result, e-SPECS For Revit extracts product and material requirements directly from

Revit Architecture, ensuring that the building model and project specifications remaincoordinated as the design progresses. For instance, when a new building component such

as a type of window or roof is added to the Revit model, the e-SPECS project specification

manual is automatically refreshed, to reflect the current materials and properties in the

model.


11/13


11

The LEED rating system encourages the use of green products and materials, and pro-

jects pursuing LEED certification need to identify LEED-compliant materials and track

submittal requirements related to those materials. e-SPECS references MASTERSPEC

(AIAs licensed master specification system), which includes hundreds of references to

LEED requirements for material selection. As a result, specifications produced auto-

matically by e-SPECS from a building information model also contain these cross-refer-

ences to LEED requirements, an enormous coordination benefit and time savings.

Furthermore, for specific products and materials identified in Revit Architecture as

applicable for LEED credit, the corresponding specification language will be inserted into

the appropriate specifications by e-SPECS. If a firm has created a green-version of its

master specification, e-SPECS can also link to existing office masters, to encourage

greener choices wherever possible.

Reducing Waste and Inefficiency

Waste and inefficiency is a huge problem in the building construction industry, and is

fundamentally unsustainable in environmental terms as well as economic terms. The

Economist reported5 in 2000 that inefficiencies, mistakes, and delays account for $200

billion of the $650 billion spent on construction in America every year; almost one third ofthe total spending is lost to waste. The IT Construction Best Practice service notes that in

the United Kingdom the annual cost of rectifying construction defects caused by poorly

detailed drawings and incorrect instructions has been put at 1 billion (about US $1.66

billion).

A large source of this waste and inefficiency is on-site rework required by poorly coordina-

ted drawing sets6. Every change order that costs the owner or builder money but doesnt

5New Wiring, The Economist, January 13th, 20006Botched Plans, Engineering News Record, May 2000

Figure 7

Material specificationsproduced automaticallyby e-SPECS For Revitalso contain cross-references to LEEDrequirements.


12/13


12

add to the value of the building is wasted resources. Every wasted move and effort on a

construction site is wasted energy and materials, potentially contributing to the waste

stream, consuming fossil fuels, and so on.

Revit Architecture strikes at the heart of that waste by eliminating the source

construction documents that arent consistent or coordinated, and dont accurately reflect

the design. Parametric change technology ensures that the Revit building information

model including the documentation is, at all times, coordinated, consistent, andcomplete.

As the design team works in familiar drawing and schedule views, Revit Architecture

coordinates their design information across all other representations of the project in

model views or drawing sheets, schedules, sections, plan, and so on. As the design

progresses, Revit Architecture preserves all information from beginning to end. The same

model that is rendered in design is used to prepare construction documents and

generates specifications.

Capturing more value in the building itself by reducing squandered effort and resources

during construction is fundamentally green and a direct product of Revit Architecture.

Summary

The Revit Architecture design and documentation system is ideally suited for delivering

the kind of information that can be used to improve design and building performance.

Much of the data needed for supporting green design is captured naturally during the

design process and is extracted from the building information model as needed.

Revit Architecture facilitates the very complex processes of sustainable design like

daylighting and solar access, and automates the drudgery of activities like material

takeoffs all the while capturing and coordinating information in the documentation set.

The analysis products it leverages such as Green Building Studio and e-SPECS (available

separately) expand its natural capacities to provide specialized functions like bouncelight

calculations, energy analysis and specification management. Linking these products to

Revit Architecture makes this technology far more accessible than before, giving

architects easy access to tools that provide quick feedback on green design alternatives.

For LEED certification, up to 20 points can be facilitated through state-of-the-art building

information modeling using Revit Architecture. Its proven ability to deliver cost-effective

sustainable designs gives firms the assurance they need to pursue an aggressive LEED

ranking for their projects and market their sustainable services competitively.

In a 2002 sustainable design briefing7 of the U.S. Senate Green Building Roundtable, the

USGBC reported that Continuing advances in technologies, integrated design practices,

and growing industry awareness will no doubt continue to transform a building industry

characterized by relatively slow rates of innovation. Building information modeling and

Revit Architecture are playing a key role in that transformation, delivering significant inno-

vation to an industry on the brink of change.

To find out more about Autodesk's building information modeling solutions, visit

www.autodesk.com/bim.

7Building Momentum, National Trends and Prospects for High-Performance Green Buildings, USGBC,April 2002


13/13

Documents

Bim for Sustainable Design Oct08